Some thread-wide comments:
* All carrier operations are essentially similar - with catapults ejecting fighters forward and a recovery deck for... recovering them. About half the carrier designs we see (Ranger, Concordia, Confederation and Vesuvius) have a single physical deck that's used for both operations. The other half (Bengal, Lexington, Midway) have two independent areas for launch and recovery. The change doesn't seem to be a scientific development, as the designs are fairly evenly mixed across the timeline: Ranger (2584), Bengal (2619), Concordia (2634), Concordia (2665), Lexington (2668), Vesuvius (2673), Midway (2681).
* The Kilrathi do, in many cases, have ejection seats. Kilrathi ejection seats are a common bit of space debris in Wing Commander III. We see Thrakhath and Khasra both eject in Wing Commander II... and we even see Dralthi II-style ships with ejection sets on Wing Commander Academy. Conversely, we know that certain Kilrathi ships *don't* have ejection seats: the Dralthi II in SM2, the ultra-expendable Salthi and Krant and so forth.
* "Phase Shields" generally refers to the 'quick-recharge' technology pioneered on capital ships in Wing Commander 2 (and appearing everywhere henceforth in the timeline). Though the term technically applies to all shields, the earlier AS-WC1 shields are generally called Meson Shields.
* 'Air Shields' seem to appear only on Kilrathi carrier designs (and not on cruisers/destroyers/etc). I believe we see them several times during the course of the Wing Commander Academy series' - on the Princess' carrier and on Thrakhath's dreadnought.